Managing Noise Floor

[Webhiker]

Apologies if this is off topic. I’m just a n00b looking for advice.

The setup:
Live sound reinforcement for coffee house singer/songwiter gigs. CQ-18T connected to a Bose L1 Pro 8 powered speaker via XLR. Vocal mic, acoustic guitar, and PC (for backing tracks) connected to the CQ as close to unity as possible.

With the Bose output level at or below about 50% the system is very quiet when no audio is playing. Increasing the output on the Bose past about 50% introduces a very audible and annoying hiss to the system.

Questions:
To ensure the best signal-to-noise ratio, where should one adjust the overall volume level? At the mixer or at the power amp? Or am I missing something? Maybe the Bose is a POS system? 🙂

Thanks,
Shawn

[Frenchie]

My look like a stupid question but I need to ask first, how is your L1 Pro 8 input set ?

[Webhiker]

Thanks Frenchie,

Input 2
Treble: 12 o’clock
Bass: 12 o’clock
Reverb: Off
Tonematch: Off
System EQ: Speech

Attachments:

You must be logged in to view attached files.

[Frenchie]

All seems to be normal.
Did you also try via input 3 ?
Maybe an issue with the ToneMatch (even on the OFF setting).
I have 2 Polar HK10 PA system and it give great results with the CQ.

[SQuser]

Is it really just normal (“white”) noise or is it more some other buzzing noise?
If the latter, are the L1, the CQ and all electrical devices connected to it connected to the same power socket?
If that is the cause of the noises and it cannot be changed, try connecting some kind of line transformer between the CQ and F1.

[Webhiker]

Thanks Gents,

I believe it’s just regular ol’ white noise, but, in my limited experience, I’ve never heard it get amplified as loudly as this. There’s no way I could have the system cranked above 50% without the audience asking WTF that noise is… :). Maybe it’s normal….

I’ll try Input 3 and see if that changes things.

Thanks for your feedback. Much appreciated!

Shawn

[SQuser]

Using the input 3 as frenchie already recommended will be the right solution.
The manual of your L1 states that inputs 1 and 2 are only for low levels of microphones (so even dynamic) and instruments, and only the input 3 is for line-level audio sources such as mixers.

> where should one adjust the overall volume level? At the mixer or at the power amp?
Set your gains and faders to “normal” levels so that your LR meters read around 0dB max.
Then adjust your L1 until it is “sufficiently loud”.

[Author]

Posts